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Abby tugs on my sleeve and crooks her finger at me. I lean down, and she puts her hand up to my ear to whisper, never taking her eyes off Em.
"She's pretty," Abby whispers and grins, making me chuckle.
"I know," I whisper back, loud enough that Em and Cooper can hear. "She's the prettiest girl in the room, other than you, of course."
Abby giggles and blushes.
"Is she your girlfriend?"
"I don't know, Abby. I'd like her to be."
Cooper makes a face while Abby shoots Em a confused look.
"Don't you like Mr. Gunner, Ms. Avery?" Abby asks innocently, in the way only a child can.
"Of course, I like Ryan," Em smiles.
"Are you going marry him?" Cooper asks. I love the way kids jump from liking someone to marrying them. If I had it my way, we'd work that way too.
"If you don't want to marry Mr. Gunner, I will," Abby states matter-of-factly. "He gives good hugs, and he's my favourite hockey player."
"He does give good hugs," Em solemnly agrees. "I'll tell you what, why don't we have a race on the zipline, and then I'll share my candy."
"Candy!" yells Cooper in celebration.
"And if we win, you can give Mr. Gunner a kiss." I love this kid.
"We'll see about that," Em laughs, taking Cooper's hand and walking away.
The zipline attendant hooks us up on opposing lines. Abby strapped to my front, and Cooper attached to Em's. He's kicking his legs and giggling, ready to go. We line up on our marks. Below, a few guys and kids have gathered to cheer us on. Holly yells up to Em and whistles.
"Come on, Monk," Chase hollers. "I've got twenty bucks on you and Curly Sue."
Before we know it, everyone has gathered, and bets are being placed. Em looks over and sticks her tongue out at me. I wink back.
"On the count of three," the attendant says. "One. Two. Three!"
We kick off at the same time. Cooper and Abby scream in delight as we fly through the air. Em's laugh echoes as shouts from the team egg us on.
"Go, Avery," Holly yells, jumping up and down, waving towards the finish lines.
"Faster, Mr. Gunner, we're winning," Abby squeals, clapping her hands.
Before we know it, my feet touch down seconds before Em's do and Abby cheers.
"We won! We won! We won, Mr. Gunner!"
Another attendant helps remove the straps and zip clips as Cooper wiggles in Em's arms, wrapping his around her neck, hanging off her like a baby koala bear on its mother.
"Again! Again!” Cooper yells with glee. "And candy! We get candy too!"
Em laughs again, taking Cooper's arms and swinging him around. She lifts him, placing him on her hip with one hand, and pulls out a purple lollipop from her pocket with the other. She gives one to Abby who happily pops the lolly into her mouth.
Em is a natural with kids. She's patient, calm, and caring; the kids love her. As I watch her play and joke around with Cooper and Abby, something tightens in my chest. It's like looking into the future—a future with a curly-haired, whiskey-coloured-eyed girl and a young rascal of a boy tugging on his mother's clothing.
Em would make an amazing mother.
"And you owe Mr. Gunner a kiss," Abby says loud enough for everyone to hear. Em immediately blushes and sets Cooper down on the floor. He's too enthralled with his sugar to care for much else.
